Milestones tumble for Sangakarra

Comm Box Sports 04 January 2015 678 Views

Sri Lankan superstar Kumar Sangakarra has cemented his place as one of the greatest batsmen in history, becoming the fastest player to reach 12,000 Test runs while recording his 11th Test double-century against New Zealand in Wellington.

Sangakarra’s masterly 203, which rescued Sri Lanka from a precarious 5/78 to instead take a 135-run first innings lead, was his 38th score over 100 – fourth on the all-time list behind Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting. Passing 200 took the 37-year-old to within just one of the incomparable Don Bradman’s record mark of 12 Test double-centuries.

He became just the fifth player to pass the 12,000-runs mark in Tests, after Tendulkar, Ponting, Kallis and Rahul Dravid. But with an extraordinary average of more than 58 and playing in his 129th Test, Sangakarra reached the milestone far quicker than any player.

Where Sangakarra ranks in the pantheon of all-time great batsmen is up for debate, but there’s no doubt that he is now at least in the discussion.

It took one of the great catches of the summer to finally dislodge Sangakarra, with Black Caps paceman Trent Boult claiming an absolute screamer at point.

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